What is the Illuminati?

Illuminati comes from the Latin for "the enlightened" — those who carry light. The word has been used since the eighteenth century to describe people who believed that reason, education and personal responsibility should guide human affairs. Today the Illuminati is best understood as an organisation of individuals holding to that same idea, not as the cartoon conspiracy repeated in films and social media.

The eye within a triangle is the symbol most associated with the order. It represents awareness: seeing clearly, judging honestly and acting with full knowledge of the consequences. It is a reminder to members, not a threat to anyone else.

It is private rather than secret. Its principles are published openly, as they are on this site. What remains private is the identity of members, because ordinary people with jobs, families and public roles are entitled to their privacy.

Members in Australia live in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Darwin and hundreds of regional towns. They are not a separate Australian organisation; they are Australians who belong to the wider order and apply its principles in their own work and communities.

• Myth: it makes you rich and famous. It does not. Nobody is promised money, power or celebrity.
• Myth: it controls world events. The order has no government, army or central treasury.
• Myth: joining costs a fortune. Applying costs nothing. Anyone demanding payment is running a scam.
• Myth: it is a religion. Members keep their own faith, or none at all.